Brit Bike Quiz

**twotyred** · 15th February 2009, 06:43

Edward Turner

**Voltaire** · 15th February 2009, 07:57

Originally Posted by twotyred

Edward Turner

not quite.....his was second.

**Ixion** · 15th February 2009, 07:58

And a follow up - what was the very unusual feature of that engine?

**ntst8** · 15th February 2009, 08:16

Val Page be the designer?

**PeteJ** · 16th February 2009, 09:31

Designer of the 6/1 = Val Page.

Unusual feature = (well, the annoying unusual feature would be its notoriously spindly crankshaft) semi unit construction.

**Ixion** · 16th February 2009, 10:34

Nope. Something a LOT more unusual than that. Two things really. One very unusual back then , though common now. The other unusual, ever, and the combination, as far as I know unique on a production machine. Very very rare anyway, certainly from a mainstream manufacturer.

**PeteJ** · 16th February 2009, 12:57

One very unusual back then , though common now: gear primary drive? (double helical, I think; I have a mate in the UK who has one of these, so he told me a lot of stuff about it, most of which I have forgotten...).

The other unusual, ever, and the combination, as far as I know unique on a production machine. Very very rare anyway, certainly from a mainstream manufacturer: Hmmmm: I am very interested to learn about this.

**Ixion** · 16th February 2009, 13:10

Yes, double helical primary drive was the first part of it, the second part followed from that.

**PeteJ** · 16th February 2009, 13:21

Yes, double helical primary drive was the first part of it, the second part followed from that.

So the engine ran "backward"....

Just not really backward or forward with equal facility (or lack of facility), like any number of old 2-strokes would eg the Villiers 197 in the Gnat.

**Ixion** · 16th February 2009, 15:37

Yes. Because it used the conventional (then) direct drive gearbox, and the geared primary reversed the direction of rotation , either the bike had to run backwards or the engine did. Triumph elected to have the engine run backwards. Whether this was the right choice is debateable. (Jap bikes don't need to because a jappa gearbox is all indirect , which reverses it again)

I have a vague memory of reading of some Continental machine that ran backwards , but that doesn't really count , being forn an all. And there have been racers that ran backwards . And of course the rear half of a square four does. But a backwards gear primary twin, I can't think of any other. Which is a challenge in itself.

Being a four stroke it couldn't reverse itself the way a two stroke can. Ixion's disreputable cousin (who looks identical to me) and two other wayward youff, many years ago held a backwards race on three BSA Bantams, deliberately riding in reverse past the local snake. The first one, he gaped. The second one he jumped into his snakemobile and set off after us . The third one, he flipped." If I ever catch you young blank blank ". The assistant snake told us later though that he cracked up laughing about it back at the snake shop.

**PeteJ** · 16th February 2009, 15:42

Originally Posted by Ixion

I have a vague memory of reading of some Continental machine that ran backwards , but that doesn't really count , being form an all.

The Gnat, the Noble car, and some other single-cyl 2-stroke driven (I hesitate to say "powered") cars used this reverse running to run in reverse. You turned off the ignition, turned the key the other way, started up, and surprise surprise 3 or 4 reverse speeds.

**Ixion** · 16th February 2009, 15:45

Yith. But the reversy trick on two strokes doesn't really count. It's not the normal running mode. If two strokes reversing counts then you would need to include almost any two stroke made. (except maybe a V twin - I'd need to think about that one). Scotts made a feature of it too, very handy with a sidecar.

**Bonez** · 16th February 2009, 16:36

Originally Posted by Ixion

Yes. Because it used the conventional (then) direct drive gearbox, and the geared primary reversed the direction of rotation , either the bike had to run backwards or the engine did. Triumph elected to have the engine run backwards. Whether this was the right choice is debateable. (Jap bikes don't need to because a jappa gearbox is all indirect , which reverses it again)

There's a few jap bikes that have the engine running backwards. One was the Honda 700s Nighthawk shafty.